Chapter Text
She was grateful that despite her senior age, she was still employed in this building as their janitor.
Her old legs swiftly walked across the (messy) shooting area. She was in charge of three levels which include the one kitchen studio and two dancing studios levels. Today, it seemed the kitchen studio was used by one of the groups for shooting, and it was a total mess.
She sighed and smiled, then rolled her long sleeves. She would tackle it one by one, throughout the long night. She needed to finish it by tomorrow morning, since another popular idol is going to shoot some music video there.
She slowly went through the surfaces, one by one. Collecting the dirty dishes on the sink first, she then proceeded to clean up the eating table before tackling the kitchen island. While wiping, she found several notes written by probably the ‘guests’ from the game show, showing their appreciation of the idols and hoping for the idols' success and happiness. It made her smile. What a great audience they were. She has grown to appreciate every aspect of the entertainment industry. Even the supposedly ‘extras’ and ‘stand-ins’ worked very hard. They often stayed till late at night, waiting for their small parts to come. Some even have retaken many times because of various reasons. It was an exercise in patience.
She collected the precious notes and decided to put them into her front pocket. She would pack them up and give it to the team in charge of today’s idol group, so they could pass it onto the good children. Yeah, the idol groups are all children for her. She didn’t like how they seem to debut younger and younger these days. Younger children with such a pressure, it was just too much and the forced experiences would mold them into hard adults. However, she couldn’t deny that some of these kids love what they do, so she couldn’t say she disapproved of it either.
She adjusted her mask before cleaning up the kitchen island. Then suddenly the door opened and a beautiful tall boy came in. He looked very young, especially in his sneakers and soft pink hoodie. His dyed blue hair stood out, looking unfamiliar for a typical Korean. His height was way above average too.
“Can I help you?” she smiled and called to him.
He looked panicked like he was just caught doing something wrong, but then he steeled himself and bowed politely, “Good evening, ajumma, I am Soobin from Tomorrow by Together … ah, I mean my name is Choi Soobin.”
“Ah, Soobin ah.” she smiled. “Can I help you with anything?”
“No..no, I mean I am here to help you clean up.”
She blinked and wondered. This kid is such a good, cute kid. He must be one of the idols who shoot in the kitchen today, and he looked so guilty leaving the kitchen so dirty. What a good boy.
“You don’t need to, Soobin-nim. I can handle this.”
“No, it’s really our fault, because we were so messy. I know the dishes were so much and…”
His awkward look made her laugh.
“Alright, please help me clean up the dishes?”
He nodded and beamed like a little puppy. A bunny, more like.
They stood side by side, with her cleaning the dishes and Soobin wiping the plates dry. Soobin had wanted to be the one washing the dishes, but she rejected the offer and told him to just dry the dishes instead.
While working, the boy slowly sings softly, probably practicing his new song. She liked his voice, it was so smooth and soothing.
“You sing well, Soobin-nim.”
“A..Ah, thank you.” Soobin looked embarrassed and stopped singing. “Please call me Soobin, Ajumma-nim.” he bowed.
“Have you eaten, my child?” she asked instead.
“... We had some pancakes while shooting.” Soobin sheepishly answered. Poor kid. He must be on some sort of diet. Every idol she observed in this building was always dieting in a variety of weird ways. It was unhealthy, since they also had a lot of physical activities. All she could do was to leave some homemade food in the training room for them.
She smiled. “Once we are done with this, let me cook you something, is that alright?”
He flustered and rejected the offer, but his stomach rumbled again. She smiled and signed for him to come nearer. Out of respect, the kind boy came near and bowed to meet her eye level. She took off her right glove and patted his hair.
“Growing kids should eat. Let this grandma cook you something, alright.”
Soobin looked red but nodded silently.
She ended up cooking him some quick omelet with some gimbab with tuna and leftover seaweed. It was easy for her, since she was used to it. She whisked the egg quickly and added a few leek pieces, before pouring it into the pan. She flipped it before putting it on the plate. Meanwhile she also made the gimbab. The food came quickly, and the boy looked over her side with awe.
“You are so cool, ajumma-nim!” he whispered.
“Thank you, child.” She ushered him to the dining table and sat him down before presenting the food with some utensils. She let him eat while making some tea for both of them. After the tea was brewed, she poured two cups of tea and sat beside the boy.
“Do you want more?”
“No! This is enough. Thank you so much!” The boy bowed again, even though he was still sitting. He was so tall it was possible despite the awkwardness. After a while, he looked down onto his almost empty plate and pouted. “We … I mean my group and I tried to cook today but.. Uh.. it wasn’t good.”
“Everybody has their own good points.” She nodded and sipped her tea. “It’s alright.”
He smiled sadly. “I told you we were trying, but actually it was all my teammates. I was only washing dishes the whole time. I guess it was what I am comfortable with. I am such a useless leader.”
She stopped sipping her tea and watched him.
Such a young kid putting such a burden on himself. From the things he told her, it seemed he was not satisfied with himself and putting himself down. He seemed blind to what he was actually capable of. A kind boy who cared about the janitor and felt sorry enough to return and help to clean up. It was already special of him, and the grandmother in her wanted to tell him that.
But before she could say that. She needed to make him realise he was a wholesome person too.
“Why do you feel that way?” she asked instead.
Soobin looked surprised. He hid behind his cup of tea, but then slowly shrugged. “I… I am a leader but I cannot control my teammates. I am not as good dancers or singers or rappers as they are. I don’t even know why I get to debut with them, I am nothing compared to them.”
“Hmmm… does someone tell you that?”
“...No, not really. It’s my own assessment.”
“... how old are you, my child?”
“I am 21 this year, Ajumma-nim.”
“How long have you become a trainee?”
“... six years? But I still don’t feel it's enough.”
She put down her cup. “Why are you here?”
“Pardon?” he asked.
“Why do you stay here? Six years of training is not a short time. Why do you keep doing it?”
“Because… I want to give MOA–I mean, my fans the best and don’t disappoint them.”
It was such a rehearsed answer. She knew that all the idols were trained to answer that way. She needed to dig more. “Hmm. And then?”
“…because I like it. Because it’s my dream. I like performing. I like dancing. I like singing.”
She nodded encouragingly. “And then?”
He looked cornered and scratched his blue hair. “Ah, I like the people too. The PDs are so kind to me, my teammates are so good too, the managers are so kind too. My family supported me so much too. I cannot disappoint them.”
“Do you think they will be upset if they know you think you don’t cook or dance well enough?”
“... Maybe they won’t tell me directly, but…”
“Why don't you show me then? Please show this old woman your dancing, and let me evaluate you? Believe in this old woman, why don’t you?”
He looked flustered but nodded and stood up before starting to do some choreography. To be honest she didn’t know anything about dancing, and all the new hip hop style the youngsters are mad about these days. But his movement was smooth, his limbs giving her a glimpse of a story, and his face looked so happy.
When he was done, he stood and bowed again.
“Come, come and sit.” She urged him to sit down.” You have just eaten, it’s not good to move too much lest you vomit.”
After he sat and drank his tea, she nodded and started her evaluation. “I don’t understand your dance or what the popular style is these days. But for me, you look like you were enjoying what you did. Your body moved so well, I can see how hard you trained for it. This old woman cannot even bend her body, and you did it so easily. Take it from this old janitor, you are definitely not bad at dancing, my child.”
“No, I am just…” he flustered again, cheek blushing adorably.
“But nothing, my child. Above all, what I see is what a good kid you are. You care about others. You want them to be proud of you. You want them to be happy. I can see that. Even before all your dancing or your visual(?) or whatever it is, you are here, and that makes you kind.”
The boy tilted his head as if he was asking what she meant. He truly looked like a lost child.
“How many people do you think come back to help me clean, dear? I have been working here for more than half my life, and you are the second person who came back and helped me clean the dishes. And not because of what the manager asked you, or because you want to do it on camera. You come because you want to. This old woman is very thankful.”
She patted his head slower, but longer. He looked down, bit his lips and pouted, but his eyes looked glassy. She continued patting his head.
“Don’t need to rush, my child. You still have your life in front of you. Chasing perfection is useless. Be kind and you won’t regret your life. You already have what it takes to be kind. You just need to keep doing it, and you will be a good man.”
Ah, youth. She used to feel like rushing everything back then. Now she was satisfied with her daily job, maintaining the constant but fulfilling cleaning activity. She had learned that it takes little to be happy.
“... Thank you, Ajumma-nim.”
“You are most welcome, child. Now come along, you need to sleep. It’s already late.”
“Soobin-ah?” Suddenly the door opened and three other tall boys came into the room. “Ah, you are here! We were looking for you!”
“Guys,..!” Soobin choked and I gave him my last hair-pat before taking the plates back to the sink. When I turned, I saw Soobin being head locked by the pink haired boy, while the other two laughed. They looked like they were enjoying themselves. It seemed they tried to call Soobin’s phone to search for him but he didn’t answer. It also seemed that there was one other boy waiting for them at the dorm, sleeping already.
The boys pulled him up and the four of them bowed to me. I bowed back and smiled.
“You have a good team, child. Trust them.”
Soobin smiled and nodded, and he looked so childish but so happy when he thanked me.
They left the room, but I still can hear them talking amongst themselves. Apparently all of them have the same idea–they wanted to clean up, but they were waiting for Soobin. And they asked what Soobin ate, which the boy answered with a loud chuckle, “the warmest meal I ever had!”
She smiled to herself and continued cleaning the room. What a bunch of good kids.